On-grid residential development with photovoltaic systems in Southern Norway

The application of residential photovoltaic (PV) systems is increasing rapidly worldwide. In Southern Norway, a group of on-grid smart houses with embedded PV systems, solar thermal collectors, and geothermal heat pumps are under development at Skarpnes. In this paper, performance analysis based on simulations of an on-grid residential house with PV system located at Skarpnes is presented. This project is expected to demonstrate zero energy and zero emission housing in Norway. This paper discusses a theoretical study of home energy consumption with electricity production for a single house from a PV system, including simulations of irradiation conditions and tilt angles, and of the PV system´s levelized energy cost compared with average grid energy price. The results show that an annual zero-energy budget for electrical needs could be achieved, and that under certain assumptions the system may be economically feasible.